FAYOSE: NOT THE OGRE HE’S BEEN MADE OUT TO BE
Mr Ayodele Fayose, Governor Ekiti state
Akintunde Albert Ogoh
Until February this year, Ayodele Fayose, Ekiti State governor and the leader of the grassroots and the People Democratic Party (PDP), was an international pariah. As a former governor in the state , he was accused of running government without accountability, of being rude to traditional rulers and of complicity in — or at the very least, untroubled by — the killing of some prominent people in 2006, when thuggery became common in the state. He was forced out of power through impeachment on October 16 2006.
Yet in July 21st polls, he had a victory in the clearest, most credible election ever conducted by INEC and freest elections in history of Ekiti State, becoming governor-elect of one of the country’s most vibrant, culturally conscious and articulate states, arguably the most literate state in Nigeria. Expectedly, Fayose was inaugurated into office on October 16, 2014, exactly 8 years that he left office.
However, some elements in the E-11, a group of Ekiti priviledge elite headed for court to try to stop Fayose from being sworn into office. They were allegedly pushed into that and sponsored by the All Progresive Party (APC). But the people resisted that move, leading to a mob attack on the courts at Ado-Ekiti, the state capital. Bad as it was that mob attack on judges in Ado -Ekiti was said, in some quarters, to be a last resort by the ordinary masses in Ekiti to protect the mandate they have given to Fayose from being crushed by the E-11 and APC through a suspected flaw proceeding.
Before that time Fayose’s electoral victory was a prospect that had struck terror through the ruling All Progressive Congress(APC) party and the Ekiti establishment more generally. The party National leadership had initially rebuked ex-Governor Kayode Fayemi for conceding victory to Fayose.
The fear of the E-11 and APC is that Fayose’s aggressive brand of politics would provoke new forms of troubles- said to characterize his first gubernatorial journey between May 2003 and October 16th 2006 . That it would foment disputes between the elite groups and the less privileged that supported him — not least the civil servants and teachers, that supported his PDP and did all the risky jobs of mobilizing the people against the incumbent Governor Kayode Fayemi, whose government they saw as elitist, planning to throw many of them out of job .APC was particularly jittery that Fayose’s being in office would stoke new motivation towards the PDP and see the South-west turn away from All Progressive Congress to pursue a more nationalist path.
Given this spectre, it was no wonder that the All Progressive Congress (APC), led by former Lagos state Governor Senator Bola Tinubu, his associates and all the party’s governors and their sympathizers in the media, has run a campaign focused almost exclusively on “stopping Fayose”. They were entirely bent on convincing voters of the threat he poses to APC and Chief Obafemi Awolowo’s vision of the Yoruba state, rather than persuading them that All Progressive Congress’s 4 years of government had been good for them.
Yet, there is another take on the Fayose phenomenon, one that voters found rather more convincing. Where his enemies see a xenophobic rabble-rouser, Ekiti voters and even many people outside the state see a presidential-style leader who emotionally connects with the masses, a leader who promises new dynamism instead of “policy paralysis”. And the PDP campaign highlighted not just Fayose’s pro-masses platform, but his boundless energy: Over the course of six weeks, he covered more than 200,000 kilometres across all Ekiti towns and villages, addressed many rallies.
In his speeches, he highlighted his personal story: The childhood job helping his parents as a boy. He identified with the people of low origin in striking contrast with the pampered privilege of the APC. He promised to work to lift the masses into some forms of economic cushion if elected. People know his antecedents on this, that he was so much in a hurry to do many things when he was in office. That connected with the strong — but usually thwarted — desire for greater opportunity among Ekiti’s masses. And even as Bola Tinubu was urging traditional rulers and Ekiti opinion leaders to “stop Fayose” at all cost — some of them were voicing their resentment at an attempt to terrorise them into voting for All Progressive Congress that had not fulfilled its promises. Over 200 new cars were bought and given freely to buy the support of these opinion leaders. But the Ekitis are wise and non- nonsense people—different from any other Yoruba group. An Ekiti man would rather die of hunger than prostrating to greet a cow because of the need to eat meat.
The Ekitis are no fools. They know the leader they want and Tinubu cannot dictate to them. Many supporters of Fayose pointed out that even though the Economic and Finacial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has recently said it had not cleared Fayose of involvement in the case against him, they would still prefer to vote for him since he has sympathy for the masses. Court case or no court case. And that while concerns linger, the state has not seen so much development since 2006 when Fayose left office. And they did just that.
Economic leadership
Many generations of Ekiti have walked a single path — that of freedom, honesty, reliability,industry, boldness and the rule of law — and they will continue to walk this path for generations to come. So Fayose needs to revitalize the people’s hope and economy, he needs to create “new” Ekiti who shoulders Yoruba national and global responsibilities commensurate with their state’s size, economic and giant intellectual resources.
The election is a big triumph for the Ekiti teachers and civil servants as, the challenge to stem the tide of an elitist party which shows little respect to the civil servants, was an onerous one. And in undertaking it to such a successful degree, Ekiti teachers have demonstrated their commitment to oust such a party from their state. Fayose must therefore show a commitment to taking care of their welfare. Of course, he announced the return of the position of tutor-general to further boost their morale and improve the falling standard of education in Ekiti state. He needs to do more. Civil servants have become endangered species in all APC states in the south-west, their morale has reached alarmingly dismal level But the teachers in Ekiti have blazed the trail for civil servants in other states to free themselves through the polls.
The Ekitis under Fayose will lose none of their good qualities. They will still loathe poverty, still loathe psychopancy, embrace universal values of the Yoruba humanity and find joy in hard work. If anything will change, it is that they should be more prosperous, and women should be much more visible in the political space.
Fayose should focus on poverty reduction and economic empowerment, taking care
of the elderly and other vulnerable groups. Of course, he understands the pulse
of the social space and has come up with the idea of stomach infrastructure to
protect the helpless. But he should be more concerned with giving youth and
women in the Ekiti the skills, training and seed money they need to start
earning a living. And if formal employment does not come in time, the noise in
the streets could be replaced by the whirl of sewing machines.
All of this is nothing other than an expression of Ekiti’s determination to
spare no effort for the sake of development, security, and wider prosperity.
Fayose should not seek revenge. This he promised at his inauguration. By working
with all allies, partners and citizens including women groups and the youth,
Fayose will translate that determination into a rock-solid zone of stability.
The love, wonder and enchantment that Fayose inspires first played out immediately the results of the PDP primary election was announced. Youth and Okada riders in Ikere and Ado- Ekiti reportedly went wild with jubilation. The feeling is that the man they could relate with is coming. A man who can mix with paupers and princes without unnecessary status profiling like APC governors in the region. He is a true grassroots leader. This explained why he had all the artisans, women, youth and opinion leaders behind his campaign. He may not be the bogeyman of APC’s nightmares, but somebody who has a better idea of governance as mercy and compassion anchored on social justice in contrast to the APC’s ideology of social exclusion and governance as being more about road construction and stifling tax collection rather than about solving problems. He is the strong leader that Ekiti so desperately needs.
E-mail: akinspapa 2010@gmail.com
